Rudiments & Theory of Music Part 2

In rudiments & theory of music part 1, music was defined as the combination of melody, harmony, & rhythm pleasant to the ears. We are going to look at each of this elements one by one.

Melody

Melody is the tune of a song. It is usually sung by treble/soprano singers. Usually the lead singer/vocalist sings the melody.

Harmony

Harmony means agreement. Harmony exists when there is agreement between the various performers(instrumentalist/singers) in a band, choir or orchestral. Harmony is the combination of the various voices, parts & instruments. 
In practice the various singers or instrumentalist of a choir/band/orchestral are divided into different parts singing or playing different variations of the tune/melody but all the various parts must be in agreement.
In a traditional choir the singers are broken down into 4-part harmony which involves soprano, alto, tenor & bass (S.A.T.B) while in a contemporary choir the bass part is usually omitted which results in 3-part harmony involving soprano, alto, & tenor (S.A.T).
Soprano is usually sung by women with high voices while alto is sung by women with low(deep) voices. Tenor is sung by men with high voices while bass is sung by men with low(deep) voices.

Rhythm

Rhythm is the flow or movement of music. We have different rhythms such as march, reggae, makossa, highlife, waltz, swing rhythm etc The song " O when the saints go marching in " is usually played using a march rhythm.

Watch out for our next post.
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